


S.A. Seekers, Inc.: Quest for the Magic Globe

by kultiras



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass SHIELD Agents, F/M, M/M, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 21:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kultiras/pseuds/kultiras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the Battle of Manhattan, SHIELD begins to consider what they can do to boost their defenses in the future. A tip from an ally sends Phil Coulson and Melinda May on a quest for a magical globe that may be exactly what they need to save the world. But the quest isn't that simple; there are steps that need to be taken before the location of the globe will be revealed, and it requires a team of people beyond just Phil and Melinda.</p>
<p>The magical treasure map they're using leads them to a team of treasure hunters, the S.A. Seekers, Inc.—Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, & Jasper Sitwell—a trio who prove to be the key to finishing and surviving the quest. As the journey progresses, they find more than new magical artifacts. New friendships and relationships form within this group of five, and soon the magical globe and the fate of the world are no longer the only things at stake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by the wonderful [msraven](%E2%80%9D) and [orderlychaos](%E2%80%9D). I definitely made some changes after they both read through this, so all remaining mistakes are my own. 
> 
> Special thanks to orderlychaos for the idea for this story. It began as a three sentence ficlet on tumblr many months ago!
> 
> SevenCorvus made amazing cover art for this story. Check it out [over here](%E2%80%9D) and give her tons of kudos and comments!
> 
> Written for the Marvel Big Bang 2013 challenge.

After the excitement of the past week, it was hard to believe that they had finally found a moment to breathe and debrief. A group of SHIELD agents gathered in a little-used conference room in the New York headquarters of SHIELD. The agents had spent the days following the battle of Manhattan in a flurry of activity. Though the Avengers had defeated the Chitauri, the real work was only beginning for SHIELD and New York.

Sharon Carter had stepped up to manage the news coverage for SHIELD and the Avengers with the help of Pepper Potts and the Stark Industries PR team. Sam Wilson and Melinda May had taken on the duties of managing the teams cleaning up the debris on the helicarrier, the wreckage of the Pegasus site, and the agents on the ground in New York, who had the thankless job of gathering and inventorying all pieces of alien technology and wreckage for future examination. 

Phil Coulson had been working with the various SHIELD departments to figure out how badly each department was impacted by the events of the previous week. He even made sure to check in on Agent Ward as he underwent his Psych evaluations following Loki’s brainwashing. With every day that passed, he felt more and more exhausted; the loss of SHIELD agents and personnel was felt by everyone, and the physical demands of the job combined with the emotional weight of the past week resulted in SHIELD agents who were barely running on fumes.

Director Nick Fury had been crossing the country almost non-stop since he left the helicarrier, visiting the families of the SHIELD agents lost in New Mexico and New York. Though the World Security Council was still unhappy with how things had been handled, they had grudgingly allowed him to take the time to personally visit with the families. Normally many of these tasks would have been shared with Maria Hill, but as she remained in medical—slowly recovering from her nearly fatal injury—that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“How’s Maria doing? Is she giving everyone in medical hell yet?” Phil asked, sitting down at the conference table with a pile of papers and a rather large coffee in hand.

“Mmmm. Not yet, actually. I think they’re keeping her on the good drugs for now, which should buy them some time. They’re all well aware of how much she hates being laid up,” Sharon answered with a smile.

“Are there any pressing matters that we should all be aware of?”

“Based on some photographs taken before clean-up really commenced on the ground, it looks like there might be a Chitauri weapon unaccounted for. Agent Blake swears he’s got it handled though, so it shouldn’t be an issue for much longer,” Melinda reported.

“Good,” Phil said, as the other agents took their seats. A few moments later, Nick strode in, looking as exhausted as the rest of them.

“Alright, thanks for getting here on time. I know we’re all extremely busy right now, so I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible,” Nick said. He was about to continue when a junior agent stepped in carrying a tablet device. He set it down in front of an empty seat at the conference table, and when he hit the button, Maria’s face appeared, looking pale against the backdrop of her hospital room.

“Sorry, sir, she insisted,” he said as he backed out of the room. The other agents all turned their attention towards Maria, as she glared at them stubbornly.

“Agent Hill, need I remind you that you are in a hospital bed because you were practically stabbed to death by a crazy-ass god last week?” Nick asked, “Generally, this is the sort of injury that results in a mandatory leave of some sort. Now why don’t you just take it easy and focus on healing instead of worrying about a meeting.”

“See, the fact that you’re all having a meeting in a conference room a week after we had aliens attacking means that I have to worry. And I won’t be able to calm down and rest until I know what’s going on, so just shut up and give me a sitrep.”

“Did you want the sitrep or did you want us to shut up,” Sam asked cheekily.

“Cute, Wilson. Very cute,” Maria replied dryly. “Seriously, one of you start talking or I’ll figure out a way to get a wheelchair brought to my room.”

Nick cleared his throat and said pointedly, “As I was saying before you made your grand entrance, we have three big issues that we need to be dealing with right now: the Avengers, the Asgardians, and the future of SHIELD. Anything else is either something we’re already taking care of, or it’s just not a pressing issue at the moment.”

“The Avengers are splitting up, sir,” Sam replied. “We all decided that it’s better to lie low for a while, and figure out what we want to do during that time. I think between the near death experiences, the crazy god, and all the yelling, getting some space from SHIELD and one another is probably a good thing. “

“Some space from SHIELD?” Sharon asked.

“Oh! I mean, obviously I’m sticking around, since I’m needed over here. Plus it’s probably good if one of us sticks close to home for the time being. It’s easier for me to blend in—no one knows what Falcon really looks like, right?” The others nodded in acknowledgment. While the true identity of Iron Man was well known to everyone, the same could not be said for the other Avengers’ identities. Thor’s identity had been revealed in light of the Chitauri attack and Loki’s role in the battle, and though nothing had been confirmed, the media was having a field day reporting on the “true identity” of Captain America. But apart from some mild speculation here and there, little was publicly known about the identities of Falcon and the Hulk. 

“Pepper mentioned that Stark needs to take care of some things for Stark Industries, and as his property ended up significantly worse for wear, I think he’s going to work on things in New York before heading to the west coast.”

“What about Rogers?” asked Melinda. “Is he just going to stick around here? He isn’t really affiliated with SHIELD.”

“I believe Captain Rogers is going to do some traveling. I’m not sure where he’s planning on going—I’m not even sure if he knows that himself,” said Phil.

“And the Hulk?” asked Maria.

“Dr. Banner appears to be remaining in New York for the time being. It looks as though he may have a place waiting for him at Stark Tower” Phil said.

“So that just leaves Thor then,” Nick said thoughtfully. “He’s asked to take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard for punishment and safe-keeping, respectively. I’m inclined to agree with them. If there’s one thing we learned in the past week, it’s that we’re not prepared to contain an Asgardian for very long.”

“I can attest to that,” Maria muttered, “So if we let Thor take them back to Asgard, does that clear up the Asgardian issue?”

“Yes, but it also leads into the third issue, the future of SHIELD. Thor said that the Phase 2 project, and our possession of the Tesseract sent a sign that to others that we were ready to fight for Earth. If he was right about that, then we need to be prepared for whatever might come next. And right now, we aren’t even prepared for the next domestic terrorist threat,” Nick explained.

“So what are our options then?” asked Melinda, “We can amp up our recruiting, get new agents in SHIELD, and fill in the gaps in our ranks.”

“We can try and ally ourselves with others like the Asgardians, although that strikes me as more of a diplomacy matter,” Sharon added.

“What if we keep the Tesseract, hold onto it and continue with Phase 2? We were on the right track, the weapons developed based on the Destroyer proved that,” Sam said.

“Do you want to be the one to tell Thor that we aren’t giving him the Tesseract, the one thing that will allow him to get Loki the hell out of here while also turning attention back on Asgard for possessing the damn thing? Because I don’t want to be that person. Hell, I refuse to be that person,” Nick answered.

Phil nodded absentmindedly as he asked, “Well then, what else could we use?” 

“Maybe there’s another artifact out there, or someone who knows about something that we could use,” Maria chimed in. The others all looked at her with varying degrees of surprise and confusion. “Look, all these years we thought of Thor and Mjolnir as myths. They were just stories to us, until a hammer and a man fell from the sky. Norse legends aren’t the only ones that exist, you know. Maybe there’s something else out there that’s actually true as well.”

“…Huh,” Phil said. “You may be on to something, Maria.”

“And this is why I’m calling from my hospital bed. I don’t even want to know what you would be doing right now if I’d died last week,” she said.

“We’d probably be lost without you and quite frankly, it isn’t something I want to even think about,” Nick replied seriously before turning back to the room. Coulson, let’s look into this, see if anyone else has found anything along the lines of Mjolnir or even Thor. Give Xavier a call—if there’s a way to find people, chances are he’s the one who’d know about it. Richards and some of the others may have some ideas as well. This attack took all of us by surprise. Hopefully they’ll be just as invested in finding a long-term solution. If anyone else can come up with someone else who may be able to help us, go ahead and reach out to them. And Maria, rest up—we need you to get better and get out of there, alright?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a smile before the connection to the tablet was disconnected.

“The rest of you, get out of here and get some rest. You all look like you’re going to pass out as soon as you run out of caffeine. I know we’re struggling here, but we can’t keep on like this, otherwise we will fail. So find someone to handle the urgent work, and go to sleep. That’s an order, people.”

“Yes, sir,” they all answered, gathering up their belongings. “You too, right boss?” Phil asked.

“I’ll head out in a little while,” Nick said, “I have a couple more calls to make.”

“Sir…”

“Get out of here, Cheese. I promise I’ll head out before it gets dark.”

“You’d better, or we’ll figure out a way to lock you out of the systems.”

“I’d like to see you all try,” Nick replied with a laugh.

“Don’t tempt us, sir,” Sam advised, “Even if we couldn’t each figure out a way on our own—which we can—together, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“…Would you all get out of here already?”

*~*~*

“Coulson, have you heard back from any of our contacts?” Fury asked a week later.

“Richards is busy dealing with the latest threat from Latveria, Pym said he might be working on something that could help, but he also said it’s still a few months away from being ready for testing. Xavier said they’d see if they could think of anything but in the meantime, he reminded me about a mutual contact of ours, Dr. Stephen Strange.”

“Specializes in magic and other realms, right? Did you reach out to him?”

“Yeah, boss. I did. Haven’t heard back yet, but it’s only been a couple days.”

A couple of weeks passed and Nick continued to check in with Phil whenever he could. “Any word from Strange or the others?”

“Dr. Strange did get back to me, Phil replied. “He said that there might be something that could help us in strengthening our forces in some way, but he was really vague about it.”

“Did he give you anything useful?”

“Not really, but he said he’d call back if it looked like a viable option for us.”

“That’s really not all that helpful.”

“It is what it is.”

*~*~*

A lot had occurred in the four weeks since their first meeting and SHIELD was much better off overall than it had been following the battle. But they still hadn’t managed to find a solution that would benefit SHIELD in the long run. They needed people, weapons, tech, intel, something that would give them an edge when they were in trouble. They couldn’t risk relying solely on the Avengers, because in all honesty, despite what Nick believed, there was no guarantee that they would all be there when the world came under attack again.

“Anyone have anything else left to discuss?” Nick asked.

“I do. Are these meetings going to be a monthly thing then? Because if so, we should really plan ahead and at least order food or something,” Sam said. 

Once again, the agents had gathered to discuss the status of things at SHIELD, this time with the addition of Maria who was allowed out of medical for short amounts of time now. Though she was still relegated to a wheelchair for the most part, the limited mobility had gone a long way in cheering her up.

“Get here on time, and you can grab something to eat beforehand like the rest of us, Wilson,” Nick replied, before turning to Phil. “I know you’re starting to hate this question, Coulson, but any word from Strange yet?”

“Actually, he said he would be stopping by soon. Whatever he was looking into panned out, and he’s going to bring us his findings.”

“And we still don’t know if this is some sort of magical thing or even a person or place?” Nick asked.

Phil shook his head and said, “No, we don’t have any of the details yet.”

“Then why are we even convinced that he’s onto something?” Sharon asked.

“Because if he has spent a month of his own time looking into this for us, I’m going to choose to believe that it’s because he had a good reason to,” Phil replied irritably.

“Thank you for your faith, Agent Coulson,” a voice said from the other end of the room. The SHIELD agents turned and found Dr. Stephen Strange himself sitting at the table, his hands resting atop a rolled up scroll. “I apologize for taking so long to get this to you, but it proved tricky to locate, and even then, I was only able to find this map for you.”

“A map? A map to what?” Nick asked suspiciously.

“I should probably start from the beginning. As some of you well know, my expertise lies in magic, and with that comes a certain degree of knowledge of other realms beyond our own. I am aware that you have had little interaction with realms beyond Asgard, but there are other realms in existence, and many of them possess the ability to use magic in its varying forms.

“Now the object I have been searching for—and it is a magical object, not a person, nor a place, Director—comes from one of these other realms. In its home world, it is a source of great power, though difficult to use, as it requires both a blood sacrifice and a strong bond in order to find a person. However, my research suggests that in this realm, the rules that govern it are quite different. I’ve spoken with associates, and they agree with me. Here, this globe serves as a map to find people, or things as the case may be. Whoever possesses it determines what it searches for. Were Charles Xavier to use it, he would likely find it to work along the same lines as his Cerebro. Were I to use it, it may well lead me to potential sorcerers. As such, you can understand why ancient cultures sought to keep it hidden from those who could misuse it.”

“But you know for sure that it’s still here on Earth?” Phil asked.

“It seems likely,” Stephen explained, “I won’t bore you with the details, but from my research, I believe it has been used to bring together like-minded individuals in times of great change. I’m not certain if it has seen the light of day or been used secretly in recent centuries. All of my efforts to find it directly have failed.”

“So it can’t be found?” Fury asked, “How the hell is this supposed to help us then?”

“I said I couldn’t find it directly. Apparently it is not without its failsafes. I could not find its location, but I was able to find you this,” Stephen said, unrolling the scroll he had brought with him. “This is a map, but it’s not your conventional map.”

“What exactly does that mean?” asked Sharon, pulling the map towards her. “Wait this doesn’t look like a map, just instructions of some sort.”

“Indeed. When I touched the scroll, the instructions appeared. It seems to be a sort of treasure map, if you will. From what I understand, further instructions will appear along the way, guiding a team of five to the globe,” Stephen said. “Only by completing the tasks the map sets out for you, will you successfully find the globe.”

“Sharon, what exactly does it say,” asked Maria.

“The front side of the scroll is completely blank, but the back side has…it’s almost like a prophecy. It’s written like a riddle,” Sharon placed it in the middle of the table so that all of the agents could read the words printed there.

> _The treasure you need is not what you seek,_  
>  The quest you will take is not for the meek.  
>  Three trials must you pass, ‘ere the answer be shown,  
>  Only then can the five claim the globe as their own. 

“Stephen, is there anything else you can tell us? Where’s the next set of instructions?” Phil asked the sorcerer.

“I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you, but I will say this. When the instructions revealed themselves to me, a map was also visible. The map led me to this very room,” Stephen explained, “If I had to guess, I think it’s safe to assume that one of you is the key to the next clue, and part of the team that must undertake this journey. Good luck to those of you who are chosen. Agent Coulson, please let me know how things turn out.”

“Thank you for your help, Dr. Strange,” Phil responded. With a smile and a nod, the sorcerer vanished as quickly as he’d arrived.

“Well that was useful…I think,” said Nick, “What now?”

“Now? Now we have to figure out which of us the riddle is referring to,” Maria said. She reached over and touched the map. “Nothing. So it looks like it isn’t Sharon or me. Who’s next?”

Nick reached out and grabbed it next, and when nothing changed, he handed it to Phil. As soon as he touched it, the scroll started to glow, but no new words appeared. “I…I don’t know what that means,” he said.

“Maybe you’re meant to go on this quest, but the next clue isn’t for you,” Melinda suggested.

“It’s as good a guess as any,” Phil said, handing Sam the scroll. Nothing happened, and he passed it on to Melinda. “Let’s hope something happens.”

As soon as Melinda made contact with it, the scroll began to glow again, but this time words appeared underneath the previous ones.

> _South you must go to a place by a Bay,_  
>  And there you can find where the Seekers lay.  
>  To find out the rest, you must have every part,  
>  The journey before you requires much heart. 

“Huh,” she said, “Looks like I’m on the team.”

Melinda glanced back down at the map in her hands. “It looks like the map’s directing us to somewhere in Florida. Near Tampa Bay maybe? Any idea who or what’s in Tampa Bay?”

“No, but that at least narrows it down some, even if that still leaves us with a ton of information to search through,” Phil said. “Seekers could be a company, a group of people, or a nickname for something. We have to look at it from all angles, since we don’t really know what we’re looking for. Anyone have a preference? I think we all have to dig in on this one.” At that, almost everyone at the table groaned.

“I’ll take the businesses,” Maria said with a smile.

“Maria, are you actually looking forward to wading through a bunch of boring records and listings of all the businesses in the town?” Phil asked in surprise. 

“Phil, I’m still banned from active duty, and somehow we lack the budget to send me to the tropics for my recovery. If you don’t give me something to do, I will not be responsible for my actions!”

The agents laughed and turned on their laptops and tablets, settling in to search for an answer to the riddle. The group spent the next few minutes working in silence.

“Anyone have anything yet?” Sharon asked as she worked her way through another page of search results.

“No,” came a chorus of voices from around the table.

“Actually,” Maria said, “I might just have something.”

“What?” asked Nick.

“The second riddle mentioned seekers, right?” At the nods she received, Maria continued, “Well there’s a company called ‘S.A. Seekers, Inc.’, owned by a Jasper…”

“Dammit, that’s the answer,” Melinda said, cutting her off. “When should we head out, sir?”

“Hold it; how the hell do you know that’s what you’re looking for?” Sam asked incredulously.

“Because I know the owner. He and I tangled on a Hydra op a couple years back.”

“The one in the tropics?” Phil asked.

“Yeah. Hydra had gotten their hands on some sort of power source, and we sent a team in to infiltrate. At the time we thought they’d created their own version of Stark’s arc reactor, but this was something different. I ran into a small team; they were after the same power source, only they actually seemed to have an idea of what it was.”

“That mission was a success, wasn’t it?” Maria asked.

“It was a partial success,” Nick answered, “Hydra didn’t succeed, but we didn’t identify the power source.”

“The only reason my team failed, was because the Hydra compound blew up,” Melinda said, “The other team vanished in the chaos, but I could have sworn Sitwell said, ‘You’re welcome,’ before he took off. If it hadn't been for them, we would have completed the mission.”

“Sitwell?” asked Phil.

“Jasper Sitwell. The S.A. Seekers has to be his team. He had two other people with him that day, and I know that was his entire team. It just can’t be a coincidence. They’re the ones we need.”

“Right, then. Coulson, May, get your things ready. It’s wheels up in thirty, and I’m coming with you,” Nick ordered.

“Sir,” Phil began.

“I’m not letting you go off with them until we know this is all legit. Now move it.”

“Yes, sir.”


	2. Chapter 2

At 9am on the dot, Natasha flipped the “Closed” sign to “Open” and S.A. Seekers, Inc. was officially open for business. Clint reached over and opened the blinds a crack, letting the sunlight into their office. Jasper pulled out a magazine to flip through, and they all settled in to wait for a client. Even if they rarely got the sort of work they truly specialized in—searching the world for unusual artifacts and the odd stolen valuables—they still got quite a bit of work from locals searching for things like lost pets and stolen vehicles. And given their close proximity to Tampa International Airport, and downtown Tampa itself, they also ended up with the odd tourist looking to hire them for various reasons.

But that still resulted in many quiet mornings, and days when they mostly sat around, trying to stay occupied instead of bored out of their minds. Clint switched between checking over his regular gear, and updating the file on the latest missing pet he’d tracked down. Even though they didn’t necessarily need to keep track of all of their local cases, they’d found that the records often proved useful from time to time.

Clint glanced out the window as he saved the finished report and blinked, focusing in on something in the distance. “Jasper, are we expecting any contract work?”

“No, why?”

“We’ve got company.”

Natasha looked up immediately, “What kind of company?”

“Government maybe? Hard to tell, but whatever it is, it’s coming in fast and it’s big. It doesn’t look like any of the usual airlines or charters.” Jasper and Natasha came over to Clint and looked out the same way.

“Clint, I can’t see anything,” Natasha said.

“I can barely see it,” Clint replied, “It’s heading for the airport, but it’s still a ways out .”

“It’s a regular plane?” Jasper asked.

“Well, it’s flying, and it’s sizeable. It doesn’t really look commercial…it might be military, but I can’t tell you if it’s friendly or not. It should be landing in a couple minutes. Call it, Jasper. We staying or leaving?”

“Staying. No point up and running if we don’t even know they’re coming to see us. ‘Sides, even if they are, they could be legit,” Jasper replied. “But get your gear ready in case things go south.”

“On it,” Natasha said, opening up hidden panels are grabbing bags and weapons from the secret cache. She tossed one to Clint and another to Jasper, before strategically filling hers with everything she and the others could possibly need if they had to run.

*~*~*

“You think they’ll remember you, Melinda?” Phil asked as they wheeled the SUV off the SHIELD plane.

“It’s a definite possibility,” she said. “I have no idea how they’ll react if they do recognize me. Sitwell and I didn’t exactly get along back then. If his team’s exactly the same now, I can’t imagine them feeling particularly friendly towards me.”

“May, it’ll be fine,” Nick said. “What could possibly go wrong? It’s not like we’re heading out to meet some people you met during a clusterfuck of an op on the say-so of a magical map. Oh wait…”

Phil bit back a snicker as Melinda turned to glare at Nick. “I hate you all so much sometimes,” she said. “Well, let’s go get this over with. Get in, I’m driving.”

Together, the three of them got into the SUV and headed towards the S.A. Seekers’ office.

*~*~*

“Looks like we definitely have company coming, and they’ll be here in a few minutes,” Clint reported after a while.

“Good guys? Bad guys? Clients? Feds?” Jasper asked, looking up from the computer where he was backing up their data.

“Definitely government, but not feds, and not spooks either. There’s three of them, they just got out of a black SUV. They’re walking with purpose, though not rushing, either. And…” Clint trailed off, staring intently out the window.

“Clint? Clint,” Natasha said, “What do you see?”

“You guys remember that gig a few years back? Psychotic cult-like organization of bad guys nearly nuked the tropics because they were trying to harness the power from one of Zeus’ thunderbolts?”

Jasper stared at him incredulously, “How exactly could we forget that, Clint? We nearly died getting there, nearly got killed by those goons, nearly got killed by that badass agent…”

“Agent May,” Natasha interrupted.

“Nearly got killed by badass Agent May, nearly got taken out by Agent’s May’s agents, and of course nearly got blown up with the rest of the compound when they lost control of the thunderbolt. Yes, Clint, we do remember. Now why are you asking?”

“No real reason. It’s just I’m pretty sure the insignia on that SUV is a stylized eagle of some sort, which means we may finally be meeting members of the mysterious SHIELD agency. Of course, I’m using the word ‘meeting’ very loosely, as we have in fact met a SHIELD agent before.”

“SHIELD? We haven’t met anyone from there before,” Natasha stated, as Jasper nodded in agreement.

“Apparently we have, considering the three people who got out of the SUV are two men accompanying Agent May herself.”

“…Agent May is here?” Jasper asked in stunned disbelief.

“Mmhm,” Clint replied, hiding a grin at the other man’s reaction. “That she is.”

“Clint, stop messing with Jasper. How long until they get here?”

“Less than a minute.”

“Shit,” Jasper said, as he frantically worked to finish saving the files before the SHIELD agents came in. “Should we pretend like we don’t know who she is? Who they are?”

“I think it may be better if we’re upfront with them,” Clint replied, “Nat, what do you think?”

“If they’re coming to us for help, it may be beneficial if we don’t pretend that they’re anything other than government agents.”

“Works for me,” Jasper said. He was just removing the external hard drive when the bells on the door rang.

He looked up and found Agent May, a tall man with an eyepatch, and another man in a suit standing in the middle of their office, taking in everything. “Well this is a surprise, Agent May,” Jasper said, greeting her. Agent May nodded her head in acknowledgment. “How can S.A. Seekers, Inc. assist you today,” he asked them, expecting Agent May to answer him. Instead, it was the man in the suit who spoke up.

“Mr. Sitwell, it is our understanding that you and your associates occasionally work to locate objects that are different from the sorts of things most people see on a day to day basis. Assuming that that is correct we would like to hire your team to assist in locating something that is both time sensitive and possibly more unusual than anything you’ve encountered to date.”

"Look, we’re treasure hunters. We find weird stuff,” Clint said. “You know that already, courtesy of Agent May. So what you’re really saying is that you just want us to find weirder stuff?"

“That would not be an inaccurate way of saying it,” the man in the suit replied.

“So what is it you need found, and why do you need our help in finding it?” Natasha asked bluntly.

“We’d prefer to keep the details vague for now, but suffice it to say, it’s an old artifact that we consider to be very valuable,” he answered smoothly.

“That’s fine,” Jasper answered, “We wouldn’t expect you to divulge any information before you officially hire us. Plus we need to talk about our rates.”

“But what we would like to know first is what exactly SHIELD needs us for,” Clint piped up. “Your resources are far greater than ours, so why us?” The agents looked at him in surprise.

“What makes you think we’re with SHIELD?” the man with the eyepatch asked, finally speaking up.

“Besides the fact that it would go a long way towards explaining why Agent May was on that island a few years ago? Because I saw the insignia on your SUV, and got a glimpse of your plane on your way into Tampa .”

“Huh,” the other man said, looking carefully at each of them as if re-evaluating them. “Alright then. I’m Director Nick Fury of SHIELD. You’ve already met Agent Melinda May, and this is Special Agent Phil Coulson. I’m sure you’re aware that the events last month hit New York hard, despite the efforts of SHIELD, the Avengers, and the emergency responders of the tri-state area.”

Jasper nodded, “We were following it from here. Was that the real, mythological Thor wielding Mjolnir out there?”

“It was. And that was his brother, Loki, leading the attack. It was an attack that we never saw coming, an attack we were barely prepared for. We survived, but we lost many good agents, and as if that wasn’t enough, Thor mentioned something before he left that has us…concerned about future attacks.”

“So what exactly do you need us for?” Natasha asked again.

“We consulted everyone we could think of, looking for some way of helping our agents in the event of a future threat of this scale. Dr. Stephen Strange may have found the solution for us,” Phil explained.

“Why does that name sound familiar,” Clint asked.

“He’s a sorcerer, and kind of a protector for Earth against magical threats,” Jasper answered, “He’s one of the good guys.”

“Gotcha.”

“You’ve heard of him? Good, that’ll make this part easier,” Nick said. “There’s a globe that can be used to find people or things that can help us in the future, but it isn’t easy to find. Strange was able to find and unlock the map to finding it, but there’s a catch. Though the map will react to everyone who needs to be a part of the quest, it only fully works for one person at a time. At that time, it will reveal a clue and unlock a map for them that leads to the next person or clue. Basically, it led Strange to us, reacted to Phil which means he’ll have a part to play later on, and it showed Melinda the way to you lot.”

The three seekers looked over at Agent May. “He’s right,” she said, “It led us to you guys, and I remember you from that op in the tropics. I know you all knew more about what was happening than you let on. I think the scroll is right, and you’re the ones we need to help us. And if that’s the case, we really need you. We’re not trying to take advantage of you—we will pay you for your time and work. This probably isn’t going to be your usual sort of consulting job. It’s likely going to be a lot of hard work and running around to find an obscure globe that we’ve never heard of.”

“We’re fully prepared to pay more than your usual fee,” Phil added.

Jasper looked at Natasha, who shrugged in response. Clint looked unhappy, but shrugged as well. “I think we need to talk it over before we agree to anything, and I think we should probably see and touch this map so that we know if we’re even the right people for the job.”

“Just come back in a few hours, alright?” Clint said, “We’ll give you our answer by then.”

Natasha added, “It’s always been our policy to talk things over together before deciding on anything, and this is a big deal. You’re asking us to commit to a big mysterious job, and we wouldn’t be operating in our typical manner. It’s a lot to consider. ”

“Understood,” Nick said, heading towards the door. “Come on you two, let’s get things ready on board in case they decide to join you.”

“Thank you all for your time,” Phil said, turning to leave as well. Melinda headed for the door without so much as a backwards glance, but stopped when Jasper called out to her.

“Agent May.” She glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow in response. “That thing? On the island? They were trying to tap the power of one of Zeus’ thunderbolts, and their plan backfired.”

She blinked in surprise at that and said, “Thanks for telling me.” And then the SHIELD agents were gone.

“So what the hell are we going to do about this?” Clint asked, nailing the million dollar question on the first try.

“I don’t know,” Jasper said, “But one of you order takeout and we can discuss it over lunch.”

An hour later, they were nearly finished eating, and still discussing the proposed job with SHIELD. As they went over what they knew, they found themselves leaning towards taking the consulting job, yet still hadn’t officially made the decision to help SHIELD.

“So we all agree that it sounds insane, right?” Jasper said for the fifth time, waving his chopsticks in the air.

Natasha sighed and replied, “Yes, but we also agree that we need to try.” She turned her attention back to finishing her food. 

“Besides, face it Jasper, you know you’re curious about a magical map that leads to a more mysterious magical globe,” Clint said. He laughed and added, “Plus you so want another chance to work with Agent May.”

“Look, whatever I think about this quest, it has nothing to do with Melinda.”

“So she’s Melinda now?” Natasha asked with a smile, “Good to know.”

“Dammit, Agent May. I meant Agent May.”

“Sure you did, Jasper, sure you did.” Clint finished up the last of his chow mein, then asked, “So we’re in then?”

Jasper nodded, and Natasha confirmed it. “If the map confirms we’re the ones they need, we’re in.” 

“We’d better hurry up and pack then. They’ll return in a couple hours—we should be ready to go when they are,” Jasper said. They cleared away the remains of their lunch before beginning to pack for their mysterious consulting job.

Three hours later, the SHIELD agents returned, minus the Director.

“Should we wait for Director Fury?” Jasper asked.

“No, the Director had other business to take care of while we’re in town, so it’s just us now,” Phil answered. He looked over at Melinda and nudged her.

“Have you all been able to talk things over,” she asked the treasure hunters.

“We have,” Natasha said, “If the map reacts to us as it did to the two of you, we’re in.”

“But we have conditions,” Jasper added. “If we’re doing this, we’re all a team. You can’t just order us around without explanation; you came to us for help.”

“Same goes for you then,” Melinda said, “You can’t expect us to just follow you without having at least most of the info. We want this to work, and we are willing to work with you as a team, like you said. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Jasper said.

“Excellent,” Phil said, “We did bring the map with us this time, if one of you would like to try it first?”

Clint walked over and reached out for it, pausing momentarily as his hand brushed against Phil’s hand as he took the map from him. Almost immediately, the map began to glow, but nothing else changed. Clint looked at it, disappointed until Phil said, “That’s exactly what it did for me as well.”

“Yeah? Then I guess this means I’m officially in,” Clint said, smiling. “Nat, your turn.”

Natasha took it, and the map glowed once more. She nodded at the agents and turned, handing it to Jasper. “It’s all up to you now, Jasper.”

The map was in motion as soon as he laid a finger on it, as a new map replaced the previous one, and a third set of words appeared out of nowhere. The new map quickly shifted into a map of Europe, zooming in on Western Europe and continuing to narrow in on a location as they turned their attention to the map’s latest riddle.

> _As five are now one, the quest is begun_  
>  Work together you must, else you will be done.  
> With dangers a plenty, keep safe your health,  
> A switch will let you steal the ring of great wealth.  
> It’s true value you’ll see, but for now it’s the key  
> To unlock the next part of the journey 

“Huh,” Jasper said. “I didn’t really expect that. Does your plane have enough fuel?” he asked Melinda.

“It’s ready to go, why?”

“Looks like we’re heading to Britain.”


	3. Chapter 3

The bags that the treasure hunters had packed before the SHIELD agents entered the office had proven useful. They’d needed a few minutes to grab a few other items, but overall, the S.A. Seekers were ready to head out just a few moments after they agreed to take the job. While Clint and Natasha set about locking up the shop, Melinda headed to the plane to begin the pre-flight process, while Phil and Jasper settled on the logistics of the business deal, signing paperwork and agreeing on fees, hazard pay included. 

When they boarded the SHIELD plane, the Seekers quickly discovered that plane was a bit of an understatement. It was more like a flying apartment, with a kitchenette, office, conference area workspace, individual bunks, and even a cargo hold where the SUV sat.

“Clint,” Natasha said, “I know you said it was big, but I didn’t think you meant it was this big.”

“I didn’t even realize it was this huge,” Clint answered, staring wide-eyed around the plane as he stashed his things on top of a bed.

“We call it the Mini-Bus, or Bus for short,” Phil said, smiling. “I know, it’s a bit much, but it helps us get the job done faster.”

“This is the mini version?” Jasper asked warily.

“The bigger version has a fully-functional lab,” Melinda said with a smirk. “Better buckle up, we’re taking off soon,” she added.

Two hours later, they were well on their way towards England. Once they’d been in the air for a couple hours , the map had adjusted, narrowing in on a smaller location until Jasper could tell that their destination was London. For now, Phil, Clint, Natasha and Jasper were studying the riddle, trying to determine what it was that they were looking for. 

“Do we have anything more to go on beyond a valuable ring in London?” Clint asked, as he continued searching through databases on his SHIELD-issued laptop . “There are a lot of rings to sort through here.”

“Well it’s in a collection of some sort,” Natasha replied, looking up from her own research. “It could be private, it could be public, but it says we need to steal it, so it’s not like we’re searching the streets for it.”

“Good point,” Phil said, “And there is a chance, however unlikely, that it’s on sale somewhere like at an auction house.” 

“Agent May,” Jasper called out over the intercom system, “Has the map changed again?”

“Little bit,” she answered back, “Give it another fifteen minutes or so, and I might have actual coordinates for you.”

They turned back to their research, ruling out auctions and collections that didn’t have any rings included. Twenty minutes later, Melinda called back to them. “I’ve sent the coordinates to your tablets. Did you get them?”

“I’m looking it up now, Melinda,” Phil replied. “And I’ve got a location. We’re looking for something at the British Museum.”

With an actual location to focus on, the four of them turned their attention to scouring the internet and databases for records of rings housed at the British Museum.

“Any luck in figuring out what it is we’re looking for?” Melinda asked them a couple hours later.

“Agent May, did you know the British Museum has a catalog of close to eight million artifacts?” Jasper asked.

“Can’t say that I did,” she answered.

“Mmhm. Over eight million artifacts covering thousands, even millions of years of history.”

“I take it that’s a no, then?” she replied dryly.

“Even using their online catalog—which, by the way, does not include every artifact in their possession—it’s still slow-going. A lot of their things are sorted by era and place of origin, not by what they are,” Phil explained.

“According to the online catalog, they have close to nine thousand rings—finger-rings, that is. We split it up, but I still haven’t found anything that could be a match to the riddle. I mean we’re looking for a ring that appears to have some hidden depth to it,” Jasper said, “But I don’t even have a lead right now.”

“Same here,” Natasha said without looking up from her laptop.

“Nothing here either,” Phil agreed.

“I’ve got a ring with a runic inscription, but nothing about it seems to go with the rest of the clue,” Clint said.

“What’s the museum ID number for it?” Phil asked.

“And its department?” added Jasper.

Natasha didn’t bother asking Clint for any more info. She simply looked over his shoulder for a moment and turned back to her computer as he answered the others.

“OA.10262, and the Department of Prehistory and Europe. Apparently the Kingmoor Ring’s been at the British Museum since 1817,” Clint said.

“Well it looks like the first potential lead we’ve gotten,” Jasper said as he clicked through the museum’s catalog.

“And according to what I’m reading, the ring was rumored to be magical,” Natasha said, cutting him off. “I’m not sure exactly how it’s supposed to be magical though. There’s another ring, the Bramham Moor Ring, and it also appears to have the same inscription. Two things to note though, first, the Bramham Moor Ring isn’t at the British Museum, and second, the Bramham Moor Ring doesn’t have a known replica on display.”

“Replica?” Phil asked in surprise, “The British Museum has a fake on display?”

“No, that one’s real. But the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle has a replica in its exhibit. This has to be it,” Natasha said. “It looks like it matches the riddle perfectly. It’s a ring, with hidden power of some sort, and we’ll have to switch the replica for the real deal in order to make it out of the British Museum.”

“Melinda, we need to change course now,” Phil said over the intercom, “We need to head for the Tullie museum first.”

“Alright, but we’re going to have to get creative. There’s no place to hide the Bus in that area. Be prepared for a long drive to Carlisle.”

The rest of the day was spent largely in transit. After leaving the Bus at a remote but secure SHIELD facility, they spent the next couple hours on the road to Carlisle. By the time they finally reached the hotel there, it was too late to do much beyond getting food and sleep. The next morning, they got up early, met in the SHIELD Agents’ room, and got to work.

Eight hours later, they were closer to figuring things out, but still lacked a definitive plan for acquiring the Kingmoor Ring. 

“Ugh,” Natasha complained, thumping her head against the hotel room table. “Every time I think we’ve figured out the solution, another problem turns up: security guards, usable fake rings, camera positions, making a clean getaway when our primary transportation isn’t nearby… tell me again why we can’t just knock everyone out and steal the replica?”

“There’s a replica at Tullie House Museum because Carlisle is part of what once was Kingmoor. Trust me, they’ll notice it’s gone,” Jasper said tiredly.

“They’ll notice, and they’ll care,” Phil confirmed. “We need to do our best to cover our bases. Once we have the actual Kingmoor Ring in our hands, SHIELD can handle things. Until then, it’s on us, and we can’t afford to get caught.”

“Well, at least that’s our specialty,” Clint said.

“What is?”

“Not getting caught.”

“Really?” Melinda asked skeptically, “Because I seem to remember grabbing Sitwell back on the Hydra op. So clearly you can be caught.”

“Extenuating circumstances,” Jasper responded. “We wouldn’t have been caught, Agent May, if it hadn’t been for you and your team and the insane scientists trying to blow everything up!”

“Mmhm. That’s what they all say.”

“Melinda…,” Phil warned.

She rolled her eyes in response, “Fine, I’ll concede that those were not normal circumstances at all,” she leaned her elbows on the table and eyed the treasure seekers seriously. “But do you really think you can get in and out of a museum unseen when you’re actually robbing said museum?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Clint replied from the bed where he and Jasper were researching the facilities. Jasper grinned in response, before leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes. Research was always tiring, but trying to plan a secretly-government-sanctioned-robbery was making things even worse.

Clint meanwhile, was sprawled across half the bed with his laptop, tablet, and a notebook, and was one of the only member of the Seekers still actively working.

“This isn’t your first museum theft?” Phil asked suspiciously. He was the other person actively working. Using a combination of Stark tech, fast-acting polymers, and a handful of plain brass rings, he was creating a stand-in version of the Kingmoor Ring.

“Sometimes artifacts turn up in historical digs, and sometimes it isn’t safe to leave them out in the open. We try to preserve history, but a lot of these objects were artifacts of war,” Jasper explained. “We don’t particularly enjoy stealing—”

“Except for that time in the Hamptons,” Clint said with a smirk.

“Shut up, we agreed, never talking about it again, because you and I remember the Hamptons very differently. As I was saying, we don’t particularly enjoy stealing, but it gets the job done sometimes.”

“Fair enough,” Phil replied, returning to his project that was slowly starting to look a bit like the Kingmoor Ring. “So if you’ve done this before, how have you made your plans in the past?”

“Clint,” Natasha and Jasper replied simultaneously. 

“He manages to come up with the basic plan, and then has a handful of backup plans for when something inevitably goes wrong,” Natasha clarified.

Phil looked over at Clint in curiosity. Though he didn’t know any of the treasure hunters well, he found himself intrigued by the other man. He was observant, smart, and he seemed to be full of surprises. Clint was definitely someone worth paying attention to. “So are you good at coming up with backup plans on the fly as well?” he asked Clint. “Because I think we’re going to need to be flexible in order for this to succeed.”

“I’m alright at it,” Clint replied awkwardly, almost trying to hide from the attention. “It’s harder for me to come up with plans for a group like this. I don’t know you or Agent May well enough to be able to factor in all of your abilities.”

“Makes sense. But if we work together, we should be able to figure out some good emergency plans,” Phil said.

Clint looked surprised to hear him say that, but nodded his agreement. 

“Planning is all well and good,” Natasha said, “but we need to eat something, and I need a break from staring at floorplans. What do you all want to eat?”

“There’s the restaurant downstairs,” Melinda answered, “But if we’re staying here more than one night, we may be better off holding off on that one.”

“Agreed,” Phil said. “How about Thai food?”

“Works for me,” Clint replied while Natasha nodded as well.

“Looks like there are a couple of Thai places nearby,” Jasper said, looking up the local restaurants. “Even if we have to go to more than one place, we’ll find something that works for each of us.” 

“Perfect. Who’s with me?” Natasha asked.

“Not me, I’m nearly finished with this part of the ring, and it’ll need to set for at least an hour before I can work on the next part. I don’t want to delay this if I can avoid it,” Phil said. “Melinda, you know what I like—just don’t order too much for me, okay?”

“Sure, Phil. Guess I’m coming with you then. Shall we?”

“Jasper, you know what you want? Or do you want to see the menu yourself?”

“Menu,” Jasper said as he climbed off the bed. “Clint? You want a break too?”

“Nah, just order me something. I’m almost done here, and you both know my preferences.”

“Back soon,” Melinda said. “Comms are on, just in case.”

“Copy that,” Phil replied absently as the others closed the door behind them. He was down to the last three runes on the inside of the ring, and so he kept working, trying to finish the ring as quickly as possible.

“So is it SHIELD protocol not to leave civilians alone in the middle of an op?” Clint asked a few minutes later.

“No, not exactly. Officially there is a chain of custody to maintain for this ring that I’m making, but really? I didn’t want to ruin my momentum when I’m only a few minutes away from finishing this part of the decoy ring. Plus, I really would like to see if we can come up with some plans together to show the others when they get back with the food,” Phil smiled at Clint. “Or if you’d prefer, I wouldn’t mind hearing more about how you became so good at all of this. It’s not every day that we meet someone with as much experience in creating strategic plans and usable tactics.” He turned back to the ring, carefully replicating the next rune, and carving it into the polymer. 

Clint blinked at him, surprised. “There’s really not much of a story. I’ve seen better from a distance for as long as I can remember. At some point, that translated into getting a better idea of the big picture, and the way that things or people could move or change. It’s kinda stuck with me over the years,” he said with a shrug.

“It’s still impressive,” Phil replied as he carved the last rune on the inside of the false ring. “And done for now. Let’s see what the two of us can come up with,” he said. Putting aside the ring and the laptop that was running an analysis of all known images of the ring, Phil grabbed his tablet and headed for the spot next to Clint that Jasper had abandoned. “Mind if I join you?”

Clint cleared a bit of space for Phil, and smiled up at him. “Sure,” He flipped back a few pages in his notebook, and turned the laptop to face Phil as he sat down. “So here’s what I’ve come up with so far. I think it’s going to take all five of us on site to get this done…”

*~*~*

By the next morning, everything was set. Clint made the breakfast run, and got back with food and coffee by the time everyone else was ready to eat. Over food, they went over the plan for stealing the replica ring and replacing it with the decoy that Phil had constructed. They covered everything until each person knew their role inside and out, and also knew what to do in the event something went wrong.

They split up after eating. To ensure that everything went smoothly, they were all heading for the museum separately, with Melinda driving the car over in case they needed a guaranteed escape route.

Melinda reached the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery first, but remained in the car and carefully set up the laptop, hacked into the security feed and began copying video recorded earlier in the day. As she waited, she kept an eye on the outside perimeter of the museum. By the time Jasper got off the bus and headed for the front entrance, the previously recorded footage was already streaming to the smartphone-like device in his pocket. As soon as he cleared the museum’s entrance, he flipped the switch in his pocket, and the security cameras ended up focused on the recorded footage. Melinda followed him in, casually checking the positions of the guards and cameras to ensure that their plans were still viable, and quietly gave the all clear over the comms.

Fifteen minutes later, the entire team was in position. Phil, pretending to be a flustered tourist who couldn’t get his camera to cooperate, was the first to make his move. As the bright flash on his camera stubbornly refused to shut off, he drew the attention of the security guards on his side of the room. Clint moved towards another display, effectively blocking Natasha and the Kingmoor ring from the sights of the remaining security guards. Jasper stayed put near a display in view of the security cameras ensuring that even if the video footage flickered, Natasha would not be revealed.

Natasha herself made the swap; without pressure sensitive plates, there was less to worry about as she switched out their decoy for the replica ring. As she slipped the replica out of its place, Melinda made her exit. Heading for the car, she pretended to make a phone call, maintaining her cover as a regular tourist. She reached the car at the same time that she received confirmation from Jasper that Natasha had successfully switched the rings.

“The switch is complete, Agent May,” Jasper murmured, “Nat will make her exit soon.”

Fifteen minutes later, Natasha wandered out the front door. She didn’t acknowledge Melinda until she was already walking down the street back to the hotel. “Mission accomplished, guys. I’m clear, so use your best judgment and get out when you can. Agent May, a pick-up would be nice when you’re free.”

“Understood, Ms. Romanov.”

“I’m already clear, and Agent Coulson’s nearly wrapped up too, Agent May,” Clint said. “Jasper, when he checks in, go ahead and get out of there.” 

“Where exactly are you?” Melinda asked, “I don’t have eyes on you yet.”

“Red ball cap, sunglasses, your ten o’clock, Agent May.”

“Huh. There you are,” Melinda said, sounding impressed. 

Five minutes later Phil exited the parking lot, still in character, tinkering with his camera. “You’re all clear, Jasper.”

Jasper didn’t waste another minute, and took off as soon as he could. He turned off the device once he was clear, and alerted Melinda once he was back on the Bus. “We’re all clear except for you now, Agent May.”

“Heading out now,” she replied. She shut down the laptop, and drove off, only stopping momentarily to pick up Natasha and the ring as they all headed back to the hotel.

They planned to stay one more night in Carlisle, before heading back for the bus and then it was on to London and the world-renowned British Museum. They were halfway through with the first riddle provided by the map. All they had to do now was figure out how to steal a ring from inside the British Museum.

*~*~*

Three days later, they found themselves getting back on the jet after their second successful heist. The planning had been both easier and harder this time, as the British Museum had a much more thorough security system in place. Creating a feasible plan had been challenging, but this time around, they had a better idea about the strengths and weaknesses of their team, which had proven invaluable. The heist itself had been nerve-wracking as the five of them set about tricking and working around the security of the legendary British Museum. If it hadn’t been for their SHIELD resources and available technology on the Bus, they likely would have been caught mid-heist. Instead, they had successfully taken the Kingmoor Ring from the British Museum, and were ready to use it to move on to the next clue.

"How did that even work?" Jasper exclaimed once they were all on board the Bus.

“What do you mean how did that work? We planned the hell out of that heist, Jasper,” Clint retorted.

“And by we, you mean _you_ planned the hell out of that heist,” Phil corrected him. “You pointed out patterns that Melinda and I wouldn’t have spotted in the short time we had to plan things out. You helped get us in and out without alerting security once. It was amazing work, Clint, and largely thanks to your insights, we have the ring. Would you like the honor of testing the ring?”

Clint ducked his head, smiling, then he shook his head and pulled out the ring. “If this works like the map does, then it’s not mine to test out. The ring hasn’t felt like anything magical to me in all the time I’ve been carrying it—I don’t think it’s meant for me. It has to be Natasha or you, Agent Coulson.”

“Phil.”

“Phil,” Clint said, “Try it.” He held the Kingmoor Ring out to Phil.

Phil looked skeptical, but took the ring from him all the same. It did nothing when his skin made contact with the metal, but once he slipped the ring on, there was a brief flash of light, and Phil felt a sort of warmth emanate from the ring. Jasper handed him the map, and even before he touched it, he saw that it looked different. A new riddle had appeared below the others, accompanied by a new map.

“Good news, Melinda,” he said, “It looks like we’re in for a shorter trip this time around.”

Natasha looked over his shoulder, “Wales? Wonder what’s there.”

“What does the riddle say this time?” Clint asked.

They all gathered around Phil and the map to see their new mission.

> _From the palace of a legend, a building yet remains,_  
>  The quest there will end amidst bloody stains.  
> The true worth brought forth from the Kingmoor Ring.  
> When you find the great prize of a once and future king  
> In the shadows of the past hides the sacred blade  
> Blood it spills will light the way ‘ere the wounds fade. 

They all stared at it in silence for a moment until Jasper started laughing.

“Holy shit, it wants us to find King Arthur’s sword!”


	4. Chapter 4

“After everything we’ve seen, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that King Arthur was real. That the stories are real,” Natasha said once they were on the road.

“And the round table is probably around there somewhere too,” Clint added jokingly.

“There are many of them; their pizza’s alright, but the breadsticks are better,” Melinda responded over the intercom.

“…Did you just make a joke, Agent May?” Jasper asked in disbelief.

“Shut up.”

“Don’t let her fool you—she’s got a wicked sense of humor. She just hides it well,” Phil said with a laugh.

“Anyway, we should be there soon,” Melinda said. “Do we know what we’re looking for?”

“Well we know it’s King Arthur’s blade, but I never thought Excalibur was sacred,” Natasha said. “Jasper, know anything about a sacred blade?”

“It’s…a bit of a vague term. It could mean magical, or it could mean it was blessed by a religious leader. It could even just be something that was held in high regard. And based on the stories, there were a lot that fit the second description.” Jasper looked over at Clint and Phil. “Have either of you found anything yet?”

“Nope,” Clint said.

“Maybe,” Phil said slowly. “I’ve been focusing on the Welsh legends of King Arthur, given that our map leads to an old Welsh building, and I think I might have something. According to this, in the Welsh King Arthur legends Arthur had a dagger. Its name is Carnwennan, and the dagger’s described as a sacred weapon given to Arthur by God.”

“Sounds like we have a winner,” Clint said.

“Mmhm,” Jasper said, “So somewhere in the remains of this building, we’re going to find this old, mysterious dagger. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Melinda said, “The map has zeroed in on our location, looks like we’ve still got a bit of a drive to go. The new coordinates should show up on your tablets in a sec.”

“Got it,” Natasha said, “Looks like an old church that mostly dates back to the 6th century.”

“Mostly?” Phil asked.

“Yeah, there have been renovations or additions to the building that are from the 15th century and even the 1800’s, so it looks like we’re going to have to pay attention closely to hit all of the original portions of the building.”

“We were already going to pay close attention if the riddle was literal about the dagger being in the shadows. Now we just have less of an idea about where to look for it,” Clint pointed out. “So where are we going, exactly?”

“Well we’re going to have a few hours to kill one we get to Wales,” Melinda answered. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a decent meal before we head for this church.”

“I agree,” Phil said, “Plus it would probably be better to avoid getting to the church at night if we’re looking for a dagger hidden in shadow.”

“So find someplace to eat, save our energy, and then off to…Nat, what did you say it’s called?” Jasper said.

“The Nevern Cross and Church.”

“Hopefully the dagger will be easy to find once we’re there,” Phil said.

Clint grimaced and said, “That’s not the part I’m worried about.”

“What are you talking about? What else is bothering you?” Jasper asked.

“Remember the part in the riddle about ‘bloody stains’ and the other that mentions spilling blood?” Clint asked. “That’s what I’m worried about. What’s it going to cost us to find the dagger?”

The mood in the room shifted immediately as they all thought about what he said. The quest had been difficult and often tedious so far, but this riddle was the first to mention any hint of real danger.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that now is there?” Melinda asked. “We’ll be there soon; let’s just save our energy so that we can be alert once we get to the church. It’s the best shot we have at succeeding.”

None of them knew what to expect from their latest mission, but they agreed that conserving energy was the best plan for now. The group fell into silence. Clint dozed off in the back seat, while Phil, Natasha, and Jasper took a break from researching as they neared Wales.

*~*~*

The next few hours flew by in a blur of resting, eating, and driving out to the old church, but the team was finally in Nevern, and prepared to search for Carnwennan. After talking it over on the bus and in the SUV on the way over, they decided it was better to go in armed, even if the church was a public site. The ominous message in the riddle had convinced them that it was better to approach the quest with suspicion and heightened senses.

“Did anyone else expect this place to be smaller? Or at least expected the older areas to be easier to id?” Clint asked as they stood in the cemetery near the church’s entrance.

“This is about what I expected,” Natasha replied.

“The size is what I expected, but I’m with Clint on this. I thought we’d know exactly where to go once we got here,” Melinda admitted.

“If we stick together, there’s no way we’ll finish before sundown,” Phil said. “We have to split up to cover more ground.”

“You do realize that’s why people die in horror movies, right?” Clint said unhappily. “I thought our goal was to get out of here alive.” He winced as Natasha hit him upside the head.

“Don’t be silly, this isn’t a movie,” she ordered. “And don’t jinx us. We just need to find the dagger and get out of here.”

“Now who’s jinxing us,” Jasper said with a laugh. “Right, splitting up. How’re we doing this?”

“Melinda and I should probably be separate, so that our skill sets are better divided,” Phil said. “Clint, Natasha, Jasper? Any preferences?”

“Clint and Jasper are both the best at finding things, so split them up as well,” said Natasha thoughtfully. “Clint and I can come with you, and Jasper can go with Agent May,” she added decidedly.

“Sounds good to me,” Phil said, smiling at Clint and Natasha.

“Works for me too,” Jasper agreed, glancing over at Melinda.

“Let’s go then. Jasper and I will start outside; the benches in the courtyard and the cross are listed as original fixtures in the guidebook,” Melinda said.

“We’ll head inside first then,” Phil said. “Everyone make sure your comms are on.” The others nodded, and the two groups split up in search of Carnwennan.

A little over an hour later, the two groups were still searching for any sign of Carnwennan. Phil, Clint, and Natasha were still searching the interior of the old church, while Jasper and Melinda moved from one area to the next outside. The courtyard had been a bust, but Jasper and Melinda continued searching for clues on the church grounds. As they walked towards the old British cross and the tall stone pillars, Melinda kept feeling apprehensive. The stones along the path seemed almost too perfect for such an old locale. She felt as if they were walking into a trap.

“So you’re sure this is where the clue leads?” Melinda asked, glancing about warily.

“Well I’m not 100% positive, but I’m as sure as I can be—all of the signs pointed here,” Jasper replied.

“And did the clue, the map, or even any mystical signs indicate that there were any traps waiting to send us to an untimely doom?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“…No…but why exactly are you asking me that?”

“Because we’re hunting treasure that has somehow remained hidden after all this time despite the fact that everyone within a hundred miles knows about it? Because there are always booby traps in the movies? Or maybe it’s because you seem to be two inches away from hitting some sort of trip wire. But don’t mind me, I’m just the driver and you’re the treasure hunter.”

Jasper glanced down at the ground, noticing the trip wire that he had missed earlier. He carefully stepped away from the wire then looked back up at Melinda in awe. “You are _amazing_!”

“Look, Agent May, I think we got off on the wrong foot all those years ago. So here goes,” Jasper took a deep breath. “Hi. My name’s Jasper Sitwell. I was in the army reserves to pay for college, and got a degree in history. I finished up with the army, with college, and found myself with nothing to do until the day that two strangers saved me when I got to close to an artifact on a dig. We became a team, a family, and business partners, and I never looked back.” He looked at her expectantly.

“I’m Melinda May, and I’m an Agent of SHIELD.”

“That’s all you’re going to give me?”

“Can’t give away all my secrets, Jasper.”

“Whatever you say, Agent May.”

“It’s Melinda, remember? Now come on, the sooner we find the dagger, the sooner we get out of this death trap.”

*~*~*

Meanwhile, an hour of searching the various rooms of the church had not resulted in any leads on the location of the dagger, but Clint, Phil, and Natasha pressed on, thoroughly investigating every portion of the building that appeared to be rooted in the 6th century.

As they moved from room to room, they talked quietly, filling up the empty spaces. Phil told them about his part in the Battle of Manhattan, watching in horror as the aliens attacked and he could do nothing but offer tactical support over the comms when the helicarrier was damaged. Natasha in turn, told him about how she, Clint, and Jasper met, how they saved one another, and how they became friends. Much to Natasha’s chagrin, Clint told the story about the formation of their company, a story she and Jasper had yet to live down.

“No, the company is legally called, ‘S.A. SeekerS, Inc.’ Trust me, I won the drinking contest for naming rights,” Clint said with a laugh.

“Yes, you won, but no one else even knows the dumb name you came up with,” Natasha said with a huff.

“You’re just bitter, because you’re stuck working at a company that is officially abbreviated as, ‘S-A-S-S-I,’ and yes, that is pronounced sassy,” Clint said smugly.

“You named the company sassy? Intentionally?” Phil’s disbelief was so strong it was nearly tangible.

“Yup.”

“Why?”

Natasha sighed at the question. “Because we kept vetoing his suggestions, and he decided to get back at us for it.”

“And because it’s a fun name,” Clint said. He grinned at Phil before turning to Natasha, “One of these days the two of you will admit that you love it. I have faith in that. And…” Clint trailed off into silence, staring intently at something that had caught his eye. 

“Clint?” Phil asked, reverting back into Agent Coulson in a heartbeat. “Did you see something?”

“I think so… I think there’s something down that passageway near the end of this hallway.” Clint stared intently down the hall, and after a moment started walking towards what he had seen. He stopped in front of a section of the wall that looked the same as the rest of the wall, albeit a little older than the rest of the area. Clint pressed carefully on the wall and nothing happened. But when he tried again, pulling and pushing against it, that section of the wall slid a fraction of an inch. 

As soon as they saw that, Phil and Natasha jumped in to help him. Clint moved back once Natasha was able to get a better grip on the stone wall, wedging the tip of a metal pipe into the space Clint had made.

“Clint, Phil? Can either of you tell how big the piece is that I’m moving?”

“Not sure, Nat. Can you try and move it half an inch or so? That should give us some idea,” Clint answered as he turned to look further down the hall from where Natasha stood.

Phil remained focused on Natasha and the crack in the wall, paying close attention as she worked to shift the wall again. As a result, he was the only one watching when the wall shifted enough to trigger a hidden mechanism, sending a small blade flying out from the crack.

Natasha cried out in pain, and stumbled away from the wall, clutching her arm in an effort to stop the bleeding. No sooner had she moved though, when another dagger came flying out towards Clint. It never touched him though.

Before Clint could try to dodge the blade, Phil had already acted, shoving Clint to the ground and safely out of reach of the flying metal. Phil was not as lucky though. Phil crashed to the floor moments later, the dagger sticking out from his chest.

*~*~*

Jasper and Melinda kept walking, following the barely visible wire until they found its point of origination. To her surprise, the end wasn’t the British cross, but instead one of the two lesser-known stone pillars. It was the smaller of the two, in fact.

Carefully feeling the ground before he shifted his weight properly, Jasper slowly knelt down by the base of the stone. He gently moved some of the grass and moss until he found something unusual.

“Melinda, do you have a flashlight handy?”

She clicked on a light, and he was able to see the strange protrusion near the bottom of the stone.

“What is that?” Melinda asked as she knelt down beside him.

“It looks like it’s a kind of button,” he said in surprise. “I’m going to carefully try to move that stone in, but I have no idea what it’s going to do.”

“Well this seems like a brilliant plan already.”

“Melinda…”

“Fine, sorry. Just try not to get us killed, alright?”

“I’ll do my best,” Jasper replied, carefully pushing the piece of stone into the pillar. A grinding sound followed, and then there was a loud crunching sound.

Melinda looked down and found that a section near the bottom had gotten dislodged. She slowly moved it further out, and gasped. Inside was a gleaming dagger.

“We did it,” Jasper whispered. “We actually found Carnwennan.” He grinned at Melinda who finally cracked a smile back at him.

He was about to ask her if she wanted to pull the mini-sword out of the stone, when Natasha’s voice cried out urgently over the comms, “Agent Coulson’s down! We triggered some sort of trap, and there were flying blades. It seems to have stopped, but just get here as fast as you can!”

“Natasha, where are you?”

“Main hallway on the right side of the chapel. Go down the hall and you’ll see us in a small passageway. Hurry!”

They were on their feet in seconds, stopping only to grab Carnwennan from its centuries-long hiding place. After nudging the opening back into the stone, the two of them took off running towards the rest of their team.

*~*~*

Clint knew that Natasha was busy alerting the others, but at that moment he only had eyes for Phil. Ignoring the blood on his face from a scrape he got hitting the floor, Clint moved to Phil and grabbed him, prepared to try to staunch the bleeding from his wound. But when he got a good look at Phil, he froze in place.

There was no blood anywhere, and the dagger looked as though it hadn’t caused any damage at all.

“Phil?” Clint whispered in shock, as he remained leaning over the other man. There was no reaction from Phil, so Clint carefully started prodding around the entrance to Phil’s wound. The motion caused Phil to groan quietly. “Phil?” Clint called again, louder this time in an effort to rouse him.

“Clint?”

“I’m fine, Phil. You saved me, remember?”

“I was so scared that I wouldn’t get you out of the way in time,” Phil whispered. “Clint, you…you’re hurt!”

“Me? I’m not the one who currently has a chunk of metal sticking out of him,” he pointed out. “There’s no sign of blood though. I don’t understand.”

“Huh,” Phil said thoughtfully.

“That’s it? Nothing else to add there?”

“Can you pull the dagger out? I think it’s safe to remove it, and quite frankly, I want to see what happens.”

Clint looked at Phil suspiciously, but carefully pulled the blade out all the same. As they looked at Phil’s wound, it slowly began to close up until there was nothing more than a slight scar. They stared at one another in shock.

Phil sat up and leaned against the wall behind him. Though they both heard Natasha gasp in surprise a few feet away, they only had eyes for one another as Phil carefully touched Clint’s face where he was still bleeding. As Phil watched, Clint’s cuts stopped bleeding as well.

“They’re sealing up, just like mine did,” he told Clint.

Upon hearing that, Natasha came over and sat beside them, and watched Clint’s wounds vanish before their eyes. Wordlessly, she held her arm out to Phil; though the bleeding had slowed greatly, she was still losing quite a bit of blood. As Phil held onto her, they all watched the bleeding stop.

“How…?” Natasha asked.

“I have a theory,” Phil said, “But can we get out of here first? I can hear the others coming, and I don’t want to risk staying here any longer.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Clint answered, hauling himself to his feet. He reached down and helped Phil and Natasha to their feet too. Before they could make it to the hallway, Melinda and Jasper reached them. Melinda looked both determined and almost frantic, and both of them looked stunned to see Phil standing with Clint and Natasha.

“Natasha said…,” Jasper began.

“She wasn’t wrong,” Phil said. “I’ve already promised answers, but I really want to get out of the booby-trapped hallway. And we still haven’t found Carnwennan, either.”

“Oh! About that,” Jasper said with a slight smile as Melinda pulled out the dagger. “We did manage to find it.”

“Thank god,” Clint said. “Now can we get the hell out of here?”

The others nodded, and together they made their way out of the church and back into the SUV. Melinda was the one to finally break the silence. “Phil…what happened?”

Phil took a moment to consider his answer before he responded. “Look, do you remember what the riddle said? It mentioned the ‘true worth of the Kingmoor Ring.’ So I brought the ring with me.” Phil held up his hand to show them. “I’ve been wearing it the whole time. Based on what happened back there, I think it’s safe to say that the ring has healing properties. And it definitely stops bleeding almost immediately.”

“Did we bring the map with us?” Clint asked suddenly. Melinda pulled it out and handed it to him. He passed it on to Natasha, then nodded at Jasper to hand over the dagger as well. Natasha held both in her hands, and though they started to glow, the map remained the same.

“It’s not doing anything,” she said in frustration.

“Blood!” Jasper exclaimed. He blushed when the others gave him a weird look. “The riddle said that the dagger has to spill blood to show us the way.”

Natasha looked at him carefully, then nicked her finger with the tip of the blade until a small amount of blood dripped out. The blood was absorbed into the map completely, and it simultaneously triggered two events. First, they saw the map change and a new riddle appear, and second, Natasha seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Nat?” Clint called out.

“What?” she replied. Though they could no longer see her, she still sounded close by, as if she hadn’t moved at all.

“Natasha, we can’t see you,” Phil told her.

Natasha put down the dagger and as she did so, she became visible once more. “Huh,” she said. “I think I understand why the riddle emphasized shadows so much.”

“You can figure it out later,” Melinda said, “Let’s get back to the Bus.”

As she drove them back to the bus, Phil reached over and healed Natasha again. When he was finished, he leaned back as if drained of all energy.

“Phil? What’s wrong?” Clint asked worriedly.

“I’m just feeling really tired at the moment,” Phil replied. “I’ve been tired since I woke up after being stabbed, but I’m feeling it more now.”

“Maybe healing someone takes a lot out of you,” Natasha guessed.

“That or nearly dying does,” Clint muttered quietly.

“Clint…,” Phil started to say.

“I know you’re okay, I know we’re all okay,” Clint said, “But I also know what I saw, Phil. That dagger should have killed you. It’s a lot to take in, and I’m pretty sure all of you agree with me on that.”

Phil had no response to that. He just looked at Clint for a long moment before nodding in acknowledgment. He closed his eyes and told Melinda, “Wake me up when we’re near the Bus.”

The rest of the ride back was silent. Every member of the team was either exhausted or lost in their own thoughts. By the time they made it back to the Bus a couple of hours later, they barely had enough energy to warm up some food to eat. They tried to muster up the energy to figure out where their next stop would be, but after spending the night on the church grounds and on the road, they were too tired to focus on the map.

Jasper took one look at the map before he declared it a lost cause for the night. “We need sleep. A lot of sleep. I can’t even begin to puzzle out the latest riddle, and I don’t think any of us are up for traveling in the direction of Pakistan right now,” he said. “Let’s just go get some sleep.”

“Works for me,” Melinda said, letting out a yawn. “Sleep well, everyone,” she said, walking towards her bed.

The others murmured their goodnights as well as they headed in the directions of their respective bunks. Clint was the only one who remained sitting tiredly on the sofa. A few minutes later, Phil came back to the main room and found Clint in the exact same place he’d left him.

“You should go to bed too, Clint. You have to be as tired as the rest of us,” Phil told him gently.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m going to be falling asleep anytime soon.”

“Is something wrong?”

“You were willing to die to save me, Phil. That’s not just something I can forget. I can’t stop seeing you as you fell to the ground. Every time I close my eyes, that’s all I see.”

Phil sat down beside Clint and leaned into him slightly. “Every time I close my eyes, I keep imagining that I didn’t get there in time, that I couldn’t save you,” he smiled as Clint looked at him in surprise.

“Clint, I don’t know how I’m going to sleep either, but I’m so exhausted, I just want to lie down.”

“Right, sorry. Phil. Healing yourself, me, and Nat had to have been tiring. You should go to bed.”

“…Come with me?”

“Phil…”

“Maybe if you’re right there, maybe if I’m right there, we’ll actually get some sleep. If not…well, I know I’ll still rest better with you there with me.”

Clint wordlessly stood up and reached a hand out towards Phil. He clasped it in his, and together the two of them walked towards his bunk in hopes of getting some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, after a stealth landing in the waters off Pakistan, the team gathered to see what the entire riddle said. The map had led them to a little peninsula near Karachi, but they couldn’t tell why they were there, and hoped that the explanation was somewhere in the clue.

> _When one who has heart, returns here to pray,_  
>  He will find the gifts, the hero gave away.  
> What you seek is inside lying at rest,  
> Raise it to pass the sleeping god’s test.  
> Climb high to take aim where the birds fly  
> And succeed you must, ‘ere water touch sky. 

“Is it just me, or is it complete gibberish this time?” asked Melinda.

“Well I wouldn’t say it’s gibberish,” Phil began, “But I have no idea what it means.”

“I’ve only got the first line,” Jasper said, “And that’s only because we’re parked right outside a temple at the moment.

“Clint, does this make sense to you?” asked Natasha.

“Maybe. It all depends. Jasper…this temple. Whose temple is it?” Clint asked, staring at the building intently.

“I’m not sure…,” he said. Jasper opened one of the computers to try and figure out exactly where they were. “Okay, so according to this, we’re right by Manora island which is mostly known for its abandoned temple to the Hindu god Varuna.”

“Okay,” Clint said, “Then I think I understand the riddle.”

The others all looked at him, waiting for an explanation. He sighed, then started talking. “It’s a story that fascinated me when I was younger, but then again I was drawn to all stories about archers. In the Mahabharata, there was an archer named Arjuna; he was mortal, but he was given a bow named Gandiva by the god Varuna. Gandiva was a God-made weapon, and it was worshipped as such. It was said that very few mortals had the ability to draw the bow, but Arjuna could.”

“What else do you know about it, Clint?” Phil asked.

“Arjuna heroically fought with Gandiva in the Kurukshetra War. When the war was over, Varuna asked Arjuna to return Gandiva and the quivers. Did I mention the quivers? Two quivers, guaranteed to never be empty of arrows. That is every archer’s dream right there. So Arjuna released Gandiva and the quivers into the water. Because Varuna was the god of water and the underwater world—like the Poseidon of Hinduism, I guess. That’s why this temple is surrounded by water.”

“So we’re here for Gandiva,” Jasper whispered in awe.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense to me,” Clint said.

“It’s your part of the quest, Clint. If ever anything made sense for you, it’s this,” Natasha pointed out.

“Okay, I know I’m the only one who hasn’t really had anything to do with the map so far, but why would you think this one is about me? Yeah, archery’s kinda my thing, but the first part says it requires someone with heart. That sounds more like one of you to me.”

Natasha stared at him incredulously, and then grabbed him, forcing him to focus on her. “You listen to me, Clint. You have heart. You have more emotional strength than anyone I know. You saved yourself when others couldn’t and wouldn’t. You saved me when no one else would have even considered it. Don’t you dare question that. This riddle is for you. So just tell us what we need to do.”

Clint looked at her, and whatever he saw in her eyes made him look around at the others. “She’s right, Clint. We may not have known you for long, but even Phil and I can see that,” Melinda said quietly. “So what do we need to do?” 

“I think I should probably do this alone…” Clint began.

“Not happening,” Jasper and Phil said simultaneously. Jasper smiled at Phil approvingly. 

“Clint, you didn’t let us do anything on our own, why would you expect us to suddenly leave you without backup?” Jasper asked.

Clint sighed, “Alright, but I’m still going to have to be alone at some point for this. Judging by the state of the temple, I don’t think more than one of us can climb up high like the riddle says. Nat, can you and Melinda keep the engine running and be ready to leave in a hurry? Odds are high that we’re going to be escaping a flood of some sort. Phil, Jasper, you guys can come with me. Most early Hindu temples were designed more for men than women, so it should be safe for you to come with me if you really want to…”

“We’re definitely coming with you, Clint,” Jasper said. “What do you want us to bring with us?”

“Just…just wear something waterproof ? If this place is going to flood, you’re going to want to stay dry.”

“You keep mentioning a flood…,” Phil said, “What do you know that we don’t?”

“The riddle talks about water touching the sky, and a sleeping god’s test. I told you, Varuna’s a water god, and this is an abandoned temple. There has to be a test involving water levels rising,” Clint explained. “Think about it.”

“Clint…You don’t have to do this,” Melinda said. “We’ll figure out a way around it. This one seems too dangerous for anyone to undertake.”

“Melinda’s right, Clint,” Jasper said.

“If you really believe that the clue is meant for me, then I’m going to do this. We need to find this globe. It could help the world in so many ways; I am not going to back out now, not when we’ve come this far. And if you guys are coming with me, don’t bring anything with you.” 

“What?” Jasper asked, “Why wouldn’t you want us to bring anything to at least defend ourselves with?”

“It’s a temple, Jasper. I’d feel weird if you brought weapons in with you. Plus, if this is some sort of godly test, then I don’t think pissing off the god in question would be helpful,” Clint explained calmly.

“He’s right, Jasper,” Phil agreed, “As much as we may hate it, bringing weapons will probably violate the rules somehow and make things worse for him.”

“So let’s just go then. The longer we take, the longer we’ll think about it, and then we’ll start freaking out about this whole thing. I just want to get in there, and see if I can find Gandiva,” Clint said.

Natasha reached out and pulled him into a tight hug. “Make sure you come back, Clint. No bow or globe in the world is worth your life. Not even a magical one. So just come back, or I’ll be forced to come in there and drag you out. Got it?”

Clint laughed in response and hugged her back. “I can’t guarantee that, Nat. But I promise I’ll fight to come back.”

He took the SHIELD jacket that Melinda handed him as she said, “Here, this should be fairly waterproof.”

Clint put the jacket on and asked, “You guys ready?”

“Yeah,” Phil replied, putting on his own jacket. “Well no, but it’s not like any of this is really my choice.”

“Phil…”

“Clint, can I stop you from doing this?”

“No. No, not really.”

“Then let’s just go,” Phil said, lowering the entry ramp so that it just landed on the walkway that crosses the water to the temple. Clint was the first one to walk out the door without any hesitation. Jasper and Phil looked at each other, took a deep breath and slowly followed Clint towards the temple.

*~*~*

Inside the temple, just past the entryway, a faint beam of light lit up a small room off to the side of the main entry. “That’s my cue, I think,” Clint said, looking at it. He turned to Phil and Jasper. “You guys need to get to higher ground, okay? There’s a platform over there,” he said, pointing. “Just get there and stay safe. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so just be careful.”

Jasper barely let him finish before he hugged him. “You be careful too, Clint. I know you’ve got to do this, but just remember to stay calm and focused. Don’t do anything stupid. If we have to, we’ll find another way of locating the globe.”

Jasper clapped him on the shoulders and shook him gently. “You’ve got this, Clint. Like you said, archery’s your thing.” With that he turned and walked away, looking for a way to get to the higher area Clint had seen. As he left, he told Phil, “I’ll save you a spot.”

Phil nodded in response, unable to take his eyes off of Clint. Clint smiled sadly at him, “Maybe this will finally give us a chance to figure out just how powerful your new ring is.”

“Don’t!” Phil exclaimed, “Don’t joke about this, Clint. You don’t know what’s going to happen, other than the fact that it’ll be dangerous. A possible flood, precariously scaling a temple that is falling apart because it has been abandoned for so long, and wielding a bow that most men have been able to draw? Everyone has said it, and they’re right. Don’t do this, Clint. We can find another way. Maybe we don’t even need this globe. We don’t know what it does, and it’s not worth you risking your life over it. The last riddle nearly got us killed Clint, and we didn’t even know it would be dangerous that time.”

“Phil…I have to do this. If I don’t do this, if I don’t try, I know I will regret it. And you know I don’t believe in having regrets.” Clint reached out for Phil’s hand. “It’ll all work out okay, just have a little faith.”

“I have a lot of faith in you. It’s the magic I’m not sure about.”

“How can you just say things like that at a time like this?” Clint whispered.

“What? That I have faith in you? I do. Since the day we met, you’ve been surprising me with your insights, your knowledge, your strength. I have faith that you can get through this. But that doesn’t mean I’m any less scared for you. I really care about you, Clint…I think…I think you might be someone I can fall in love with someday ,” Phil said.

He tightened his grip on Clint’s hand. “So I need you to come back from this, so that I can find out for sure.” He let go of Clint and took a step back. “Go on, go do this before I finally figure out a way to stop you from risking your life like this.”

He turned to walk away only to feel Clint grab his hand again. Phil looked back over his shoulder at Clint.

“No regrets, right?” Clint said. Before Phil could respond, Clint was kissing him. Clint poured everything he was feeling into the kiss. He shared everything with Phil in the only way he could, giving him his hopes and fears all in that one kiss. He only pulled away when he needed air, and looked at Phil as he panted for breath. Phil looked completely wrecked by that kiss. Clint almost couldn’t believe the amount of emotion he saw in Phil’s eyes as he looked back at him.

“Clint,” Phil whispered.

Clint quickly kissed him again, doing everything he could to remember every detail of this kiss. He finally broke away, and slowly let go of Phil, studying his face for as long as he could bear to. And then he turned away and went into the other room.

*~*~*

The moments he spent waiting for a sign that Clint survived were a painful blur to Phil. Later, when he thought back, he remembered the chill in the air, the sound of rushing water nearby, the feeling of Jasper standing equally terrified next to him, and the thoughts and prayers that rattled through his head. Phil had no idea how long it took, before he became aware of a sound coming from above them.

From where they stood, they had a perfect view of a high ledge in the other room. A room where Clint now stood high on the ledge with a bow in hand. Phil stood mesmerized, staring at Clint. He had no idea what Clint was focused on, but he watched as Clint slowly drew the bow, becoming one of only a few mortals to wield Gandiva.

As he let go of the string, the sound crashed through the room, booming and echoing loudly like a clap of thunder.

Unbeknownst to them, at that moment, the map began to glow and change once more.

*~*~*

“Really? No riddle this time?” Clint asked as Phil tossed a pile of towels at him so that he could dry off. They were all back on board the Bus, preparing to leave Manora Island. Jasper placed with Carnwennan and the map, as they all checked on Clint to make sure he was okay.

“Apparently not,” Phil replied. “I for one, am not complaining about that though.” He smiled at Clint and grabbed his arms, pulling him in for a soft kiss. “It looks like we passed all the tests once you used Gandiva.”

Clint smiled back shyly at him, and leaned back in to kiss Phil again. “I’m glad it all worked out,” he said, pulling back to give Natasha a hug as she came over to him. “So where we headed this time?” he asked.

“Home,” Melinda said with a smile.

“The globe’s in the States?” Jasper asked in surprise.

“The globe’s in New York.”


	6. Chapter 6

“We’ve got movement, guys,” Melinda said over the intercom when they were nearly halfway across the Atlantic.

“Movement in the air or on the map?” Phil asked.

“Map. Looks like it’s narrowing in on the Manhattan area, Phil.”

“Any fixed coordinates yet?” Natasha asked from where she was trying out Carnwennan, using it to shroud herself in shadows and reappearing moments later, “Or are we still too far out?”

“Still too far out for coordinates, but if it keeps narrowing in the way it’s heading, it looks like our destination will be somewhere in the Upper East Side.”

“So…the globe’s in the hands of some rich guy?” Clint asked skeptically. “How exactly are we going to get it? Steal from him as well?”

“Hopefully we can just talk him into handing it over for the good of humanity,” Phil answered.

“And if he doesn’t…?” Jasper trailed off.

“Then we’ll figure something out. We’re getting pretty good at that.”

“Guys, I have coordinates. I’m sending them to you now,” Melinda called out.

*~*~*

Several hours later, they landed the Bus at SHIELD’s New York Headquarters. They planned on grabbing one of the already-fueled SUV’s from the vehicle pool. While Melinda took Clint, Natasha, and Jasper down to the garage level, Phil planned to quickly detour and check-in with the Director.

To his surprise, Nick was waiting for him when he got off the Bus. “Sir?”

“Melinda logged the flight plan, and so I headed here soon after. How’s your quest?”

“Nearly complete, actually. Looks like the globe’s in Manhattan itself.”

“Glad to hear it, Coulson. Now how have things been with the civilians?”

“Melinda and I honestly couldn’t have picked a better team, sir. We got really lucky.”

“Alright, go get that globe Coulson, and then get back here. We’ve been managing without the two of you, but we are more than ready to have you back stateside.”

“It’ll be good to be back,” Phil said with a smile, heading for the vehicle pool.

When he got there, the others were already seated and waiting on him. He got in the car, and they headed to the coordinates, as Phil read up on the socialite in question.

“It looks like they are quite the socialite pair. He’s a big-time businessman, quite well known around New York in fact. And his wife…I think she’s the same age as his youngest daughter,” Phil said. “Hopefully they’ll be open to meeting with us and will hand over the globe as well.”

When they finally reached the coordinates, the team headed to the front door without hesitation. There, they encountered their first obstacle, the butler. The butler informed them that the boss and his new wife were out of town, and not due to check-in for a few days, let alone return from their trip.

“Is there anyone else in the family who we can speak to? This really is an urgent matter,” Phil said.

The butler looked pained as he replied, “There is someone else at home presently, but Miss Ivana Dancealot does not wish to be disturbed, even if this is a matter of utmost importance.”

“Well, I guess…” Phil started until Clint interrupted him.

“Wait, did you just say Ivana Dancealot?” When the butler nodded, Clint turned to the others. “Phil, you said this was the Bishop house?”

“Yes…” Phil replied warily.

Clint turned back to the butler, and grinning, asked, “Can you tell her something exactly as I say it? The wording is very important.”

“I can do that,” the butler said, “What would you like me to tell her?”

“Tell her, ‘We really need your help on this, Katie-Kate.’”

The butler repeated the message and then went back into the house, presumably to speak to the young woman in question.

“Katie-Kate?” Natasha asked Clint while they waited outside.

“It’s a bit of a long story, but Kate Bishop and I have known each other for years,” Clint replied.

The butler returned looking slightly surprised. “Hawkeye?” he asked. Clint nodded, and the butler continued, “Miss Bishop will see you all now.”

The team followed the butler as he led them to the backyard pool. There they found a young woman in her late teens lounging by the pool. She was wearing a purple bikini and large sunglasses, which she lowered, examining them from above the frames. She raised an eyebrow at the butler, clearly asking for a proper introduction. 

“Miss Bishop,” the butler began, until she cleared her throat at him pointedly. He looked pained but continued, “Miss Ivana Dancealot, these agents and their associates are here from the government agency, SHIELD. They came because they need to obtain something from your father.”

“That will be all, William, thank you,” she said, pushing her sunglasses back into their normal position.

Clint walked over to her, and casually tossed a, “Hey Hawkeye,” at the young woman.

“’Sup Hawkeye,” she replied, before punching him in the arm.

“Ow! Dammit Katie, what the hell was that for?”

“You know damn well what that’s for,” she yelled at him, “You’re supposed to call me when you’re in town, and you know it!”

“We just got here! I didn’t have time,” Clint said defensively.

Kate let out a little shriek of frustration, and punched him in the arm again. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down and turned to the rest of the group. “So what is it you needed from my dad?”

“Miss Bishop, we have reason to believe that your father is in possession of an unusual globe. We’ve been searching for it around the world; we need it, and we’re willing to pay for it if that’s what it takes,” Phil explained.

“A globe, huh? What’s so special about it?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified,” Melinda said.

“Of course it is.” She reached over and took a sip from the fruity drink sitting next to her.

"Are they legit, Clint?” Kate asked.

“They are, Katie-Kate. They’re the good guys,” he replied.

“Alrighty then,” she said, “So what are you looking for again?”

“A globe,” Natasha replied, “How do you know each other?”

“We go way back, but it’s a bit of a long story. Can you describe the globe?” Kate asked. At their unimpressed expressions, she rolled her eyes at them. “Hey, my dad’s rich and we live in a mansion. There’s more than one globe, you guys. Give me something to narrow it down.”

“It should react to people when they touch it?”

“Well that narrows it down to a few at least, but I think a couple are just like, color-changing, mood ring globes,” Kate said. She made a face at that, “Don’t ask, I don’t even know. Anyway, c’mon. It should be this way,” she said, leading them into the house.

As they walked past one area of the house, Kate turned to them and said cheekily, “Sorry guys, the West Wing is completely off limits.”

The group varied between expressions of amusement and confusion at that. “Big Beauty and the Beast fan?” Jasper asked.

“No, but I can’t deny, it would be pretty awesome if the furniture in this place came alive,” Kate answered. “Anyway, here’s Dad’s…formal study for lack of a better description. He only uses this room as a status room, really. He manages his actual business elsewhere. Chances are, the globe is somewhere in here.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s right,” Melinda said, “The map has started acting up.”

“Acting up?” Clint asked, “Is it glowing again?”

“Yeah, it is.”

They looked around the room—it was completely filled with all manner of artifacts, antiquities, and collectibles. “Split up and check out every globe you find,” Phil ordered.

For the most part they searched in silence, moving from one object to the next, except for Clint and Kate who talked to one another about all sorts of things, catching up on things they had missed since they last spoke.

“Melinda, you want to come check this one out?” Natasha finally called out after they’d been searching for close to an hour. She carefully pulled a pale-looking globe from a shelf where it had been buried under a pile of tapestries. Unlike the other globes, the map on this one was unusual, seeming faded and barely visible. 

They all walked towards her, and watched as the map glowed brighter and brighter until Melinda was standing in front of the globe. On a hunch, she touched the map to the globe. The light emanating from the map flared brighter than ever before, and then it faded, the map to the globe vanishing with it. “This is definitely it then,” she said.

“We should get this to SHIELD. Miss Bishop, thank you so much for your help. How much would you like us to pay you in exchange for the globe?” Phil asked.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. If Dad has a fit over it, I’ll just tell him some government agents waved their badges around and confiscated it,” Kate said, shrugging. “But what I do want is lunch, coffee, or range time with you, mister,” she said, poking Clint in the chest. “You definitely owe me now.”

“Alright, jeez. Just lemme know when you’re free and we’ll figure something out. I don’t think I’m heading out of here for a few days at least,” he said. He reached out and slung an arm around her, giving her a sideways hug. “Thanks for helping, Katie-Kate.”

“Yes, thank you Miss Bishop,” Melinda said, “We couldn’t have found this without you.”

“Yeah you could’ve,” Kate said with a smile, “It just would’ve taken you guys a lot longer.”

She waved to them as they walked back to the car, Natasha carefully carrying the globe. It was time to get it to SHIELD.

*~*~*

“What the fuck?” Melinda yelled, as she swerved suddenly. She got them clear of the flying wreckage and slammed on the brakes. In front of them, the street was overflowing with tiny metallic robots of some sort. Tiny metallic robots with explosive capabilities, no less. “Coulson, call it in!”

“On it,” he replied, pulling out his phone. “Sir, there appears to be an attack of…”

“Miniature Doombots, we know,” Nick replied. “We’re trying to get people down there, but they’re causing enough problems that it’s affecting traffic. We can’t get onsite fast enough to contain it.”

“Sir…we’re already on site. We’re not armed as well as the response team will be, but we can keep them in one area until others get here.”

“You’re sure your team has enough ammo?”

“Trust me boss, ammo will not be an issue for us,” Phil said, smiling at Clint and Natasha. “We’ve got this, just get here ASAP.” He hung up on his boss and turned to his team.

Clint grabbed Gandiva and his quivers, and strapped on his small arsenal of weapons and ammo. “What’s the play, Coulson?”

“Keep it contained and try to minimize the damage while we’re at it. These things are more dangerous than they look—try not to let a few of them get in range of the same target, because they do have explosive capabilities. They shouldn’t be particularly resilient either…at least past models haven’t been. They also haven’t looked like a mutant lawn gnome army before though. Try and stay on the same frequency in case things change suddenly.”

“Got it,” Clint replied. “I’m heading up high, I need a better vantage point for this.”

“You’ll call the shots for us?” Natasha asked as she attached the last of her weapons to her body, making sure she could get to everything easily. She kept Carnwennan nearby, ready to use the dagger to fade into the shadows surrounding the battle.

“Whenever I can, I promise.” Clint jumped out of the vehicle, and was about to head for the nearest high-rise when he stopped and looked back at the rest of the team. Phil, Jasper, and Melinda were arming themselves with their personal weapons as well as everything else they had. “Who’s staying with the car?” Jasper asked. “We can’t risk the globe getting destroyed if no one is near it.”

“Alright,” Melinda said. “You and I will stay near the car. You take the long-range weapons, and I can handle things from this end. I can take on anything that comes near us.”

“Well that’s all kinds of sexy,” Jasper muttered, not expecting her to hear him.

“You have no idea,” she replied, smirking. Jasper grinned back at her, much to Natasha’s amusement.

“Get a room, you two,” Phil said, stepping onto the ground and surveying the Doombots.

“That’s not a bad idea you know,” Clint said. Phil turned and found him standing next to him, smiling back at him.

“What?”

“Getting a room,” Clint said with a grin, “Sounds like a pretty solid idea to me.” He got a hold of Phil’s tie and pulled him in for a kiss. “And that seemed like a pretty good idea too.”

Phil grinned helplessly back at him. “Well I can’t exactly disagree with that now can I?”

“And you say we need a room,” Jasper said sarcastically from inside the vehicle.

“We’ll continue this later then,” Clint said, laughing.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Phil replied.

With a grin, they both headed into the fray, Natasha already ahead of them, a Doombot already in her sights.

*~*~*

The five of them worked seamlessly as a team, keeping the mini Doombots at bay until reinforcements were able to get on the scene. As the Fantastic Four finished clearing up Dr. Doom’s latest fiasco, Nick, Sam, and Sharon came over to greet their co-workers and their new associates.

Nick looked at the globe in Melinda’s hands. “So that’s the mysterious magical globe then?”

“Yup.”

He nodded. “Think it’ll help us find people who can make a difference?”

Phil took a look around. Natasha and Sharon were discussing the story of Carnwennan, Jasper and Sam were checking out something on Jasper’s laptop, and Clint was pulling arrows out of doombots and answering questions about Gandiva. He grinned at Phil when he saw him looking, and then turned back to his work. Phil and Melinda looked at each other and smiled.

“It already has, sir. It already has.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bounced around different legends and mythologies in this story, so if you’d like to know more about any of those, here are some links!
> 
> The British Museum really does have a fascinating online catalog of many of its ~8 million artifacts. The Kingmoor Ring is one of those that is online: here
> 
> More info on the Kingmoor Ring: here on wiki
> 
> Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery
> 
> The Nevern Cross and Church
> 
> Carnwennan
> 
> Gandiva, Varuna, Shri Varun Dev Mandir
> 
> The Magic Globe is visually based off of the one from Once Upon A Time: pictured here
> 
> And lastly, in case you didn’t know, Round Table Pizza is a chain of pizzerias in the western US.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cover Art for S.A. Seekers, Inc.: Quest for the Magic Globe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036695) by [SevenCorvus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenCorvus/pseuds/SevenCorvus)




End file.
